Man seen walking rooster on a leash in Ohio becomes overnight social media celebrity
An Ohio man has unwittingly become a hot topic on social media, after his wife confessed he walks a chicken on a leash around the neighborhood.
Melissa May of Verona, Ohio, posted the admission on the Appalachian Americans Facebook group (with 352,000 members), and included a photo of her husband, Shawn May, out with his rooster.
The bird has been named Carl Francis and it follows her husband everywhere, she said.
“Please tell me we are not the only ones with a rooster this friendly,” May wrote in the Jan 18 post.
“About 5 months ago, someone dumped a rooster off at our house. I have no idea why but they did. My husband is a carpenter and is always working in the garage. ... This rooster followed him in and hasn’t left since. ... The rooster now has a harness on and my husband takes him on walks on a leash. He also likes to be held.”
Her post has racked up 11,000 reactions and 1,200 comments, including a lot of people who confessed they, too, had a beloved chicken in their life.
One woman said her daughter makes clothes for her chickens, while another family admitted taking their chicken for rides.
“If he hears you, he will run to try to get to the car door or stand in front so you can’t leave!” Patricia Gingerich wrote on Facebook.
Melissa May says she has been taken off guard by the response.
“I’m glad that our homeless chicken and my crazy husband can bring this much delight to everyone,” she told McClatchy News.
“We decided he (the rooster) was put here for a reason and he was going to stay no matter what. The first night, he started eating my husband’s dinner right off his plate. ... I thought it was funny at first.”
She’s the one who found a harness for Carl Francis, at her husband’s request. It did not strike her as strange after four years together, she said.
“Nothing my husband does surprises me anymore,” she said. “Carl is his sidekick. Almost like a dog.”
